Process of preparing onyx marble for use in relief-printing



llNiTEb STATES JOHN G. )VEAVER, OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, ASSIGNOR TO THE ONYX ENGRAVING AND EMBELLISHING COMPANY, OF UTAH PATENT @EETcE.

PROCESS OF PREPARING ONYX MARBLE FOR USE IN RELIEF-PRINTING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 590,177, dated September 14, 1897. Application filed December 26, 1896. Serial No. 617,085. (Specimens) To (LZZ whom [It may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN G. WEAVER, a cit-izen of the United States, residing at Salt Lake City, in the county of Salt Lake and State of Utah, have invented a certain new and useful Process of Preparing Onyx Marble for Use in Relief-Printing; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The object of my invention is to utilize onyx marble for the production of reliefprinting plates. To this end it consists in the special process of accomplishing the same, as will be hereinafter fully described.

In order to apply my invention, I take a piece of onyx marble of any desired size, one surface of which has been made perfectly smooth and even and thoroughly cleansed, and by the use of a specially-prepared ink or tusch I draw the desired design on the stone with a pen or artists brush or transfer any design thereto by any known method.

The ink or tusch as used by me in drawing the design upon the stone is composed of the following ingredients in the proportions placed to an open flame, using alcohol,

stated: gum-elemi, one (1) ounce; mutton tallow, three (3) ounces; castile-soap, two (2) ouncesybeeswax, two (2) ounces; lampblack, one-half (-1,) ounce, all of which has been melted over aslowfire and cooled slowly and then thinned and diluted to the desired consistency for use with turpentine.

After the design is applied I then subject the surface on which the design has been gasolene, or any other material that will produce flame without smoke, and continue the application of the flame until the heat has sufficiently softened the ink or tusch. I then cover said surface thoroughly with a preparation composed of equal parts of dragonsblood and ground asphaltum which has been reduced to an impalpable pulp or dust. I then, with a soft brush or absorbent cotton or by any other suitable means, carefully brush said surface in one direction until said covering of dust referred to has been thoroughly removed and until the surface,

except where the lines of the design appear, has been thoroughly cleansed. I then again subject those parts of the surface which are covered with the design to an open flame of the character above described until the tusch, dragons-blood, and asphaltum are slightly fused, and again cover the whole surface in the same manner with dragons-blood and asphaltum, as before, and again remove the same in another direction and repeat the fusing and covering with dragons-blood and asphaltum four times in all until said surface covered with the design has been so treated with each of the parallel end and side lines upright, and the last time I apply said open flame until the tusch with the dragons-blood and asphaltum adhering thereto is sufficiently fused to present a dark glossy appearance. I then paint the ends and sides of the stone, except Where the design is, carefully with as phaltum-varnish thinned with benzene, so as to flow readily. I then etch the exposed surface containing the design by immersing the same in or applying to the surface thereof the following solution: pure water, seventy (70) parts; dissolved vegetable gum, five (5) parts; spirits of turpentine, five (5) parts; nitric acid, fifteen (15) parts; sulfuric acid, five (5) parts; and I repeat the above process until the design is etched to the desired depth. I then remove the ink or tusch and asphaltum varnish and thoroughly cleanse the surface by the use of alcohol, benzene, or kerosene.

The printing-plates as thus prepared are to have printing-ink applied to them by a roller for printing upon paper in the usual manner.

I am aware that there is no broad novelty in the various compositions used in my process, as most, if not all, of their ingredients have in different proportions and combinations been used before in this art. The speciiic compositions and steps of treatment in my invention have after great expense and elaborate experiments been found to be the only process that will work with onyx marble by reason of its peculiar chemical and physical properties, and by its use a new and valuable addition is made to the printing art in the utilization of onyx marble for reliefplates.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patcut, is

The herein-described process of preparing relief-printin g plates from on yx marble, consisting in first applying the design to the smooth face of the stone with an ink composed of guln-elemi one ounce, mutton tallow three ounces, eastile-soap two ounces, beeswax two ounces, lainpblack one-half ounce and turpentine, then dusting over the design with equal parts of dragons-blood and ground asphalturn in the form of powder, the said powder being applied in the several directions as described and successively fused and in corporated with the ink by a flame, then painting the ends and back of the stone with an acid-resisting varnish, then etching the exposed surface of the stone in a bath composed of Water seventy parts, gum five parts, spirits of turpentine five parts, nitric acid fifteen parts, and sulfuric acid five parts, and finally removing the ink of the design and cleaning the stone substantially as herein described.

JOHN G. WEAVER.

\Vitnesses:

J. R. BoWDLE, A. F. MOORE. 

